1. Field
The invention relates generally to bowling balls. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for transferring a decoration such as an image to a bowling ball by using sublimation, and to a bowling ball having the decoration.
2. Background Information
Bowling is an old and popular game enjoyed by millions of people around the world. According to the rules of bowling, a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a lane towards ten pins arranged in a triangular pattern in order to knock down some or desirably all of the pins. The bowler may keep a score by recording the number of pins knocked-down over a series of frames.
In the field of manufacturing and selling bowling balls, it has been known for many years that the visual appearance of a bowling ball strongly affects how well it will sell. Accordingly, it is not surprising that several prior art approaches for decorating bowing balls have been proposed over the years.
One approach involves directly stamping an ink decoration on the outer surface of the bowling ball. A disadvantage of this approach is that the decoration so applied is not durable and quickly wears away due to abrasion with the lane and other surfaces.
Another approach involves engraving a patterned void in the bowling ball and then filling the patterned void with a differently colored material. For example, the text xe2x80x9cRonxe2x80x9d may be engraved in a solid black bowling ball, and then a white resinous material may be poured into the engraved void, hardened, and polished so that the bowling ball remains spherical and smooth. This approach is complicated, expensive, and time consuming, making this approach limited in practice to very simple, primarily one-color, graphics.
A third approach involves grafting a thin polymeric coating constituting a decoration on the outer surface of a bowing ball, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,410 entitled Decorating Bowling Balls to Lee et al. One significant disadvantage of this approach is that the coating is applied to the outer surface of the bowling ball and may affect the performance of the bowling ball as it is rolled down the lane. For example, the coating may cause the ball to hook differently, which can affect the trajectory of the ball as it strikes the pins, and ultimately change the number of pins that are knocked-down.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for decorating a bowling ball.